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Mike Crumb was at a Kelowna, B.C., hospital yesterday morning, celebrating the birth of his son, when his cellphone rang.

It was 6 a.m. and Toronto Argonauts general manager Adam Rita was on the line, bearing news of a trade with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Rita, of course, had no idea that Crumb's wife Jody had given birth to little Warrick at 4:25 a.m., so he called to tell the non-import safety/linebacker that he was on his way to Winnipeg.

"It's been nuts," said Crumb, who comes to the Bombers along with a second-round pick in the Canadian college draft in exchange for little-used quarterback Spergon Wynn.

"To have the experience of having a kid -- one of the best moments of my life -- and then to have that kind of news an hour later is pretty bizarre. But I'll make the best of it."

Crumb, an eight-year veteran who won Grey Cups with the B.C. Lions in 2000 and the Argos in 2004, is an excellent special teams player who started for two seasons with the Lions.

"He's a good safety and a great character guy," said Bombers general manager Brendan Taman.

Although surprised by the deal, Crumb, 35, is already looking forward to coming to Winnipeg.

"I had zero inkling ... I was all set to go back to Toronto," he said. "But I'm a team player and Winnipeg has definitely gotten better and has a chance to make an honest run at a Grey Cup. Besides, it's nice to know that at my age, I'm still worth something."

Crumb, a 6-foot, 194-pounder, wants to start in Winnipeg, but the team is still pursuing free agent safety Richard Karikari, and that potential signing could relegate the newcomer to backup and special teams status.

Taman said all along that adding Canadian depth was a priority this off-season and he sees Crumb and the high draft pick as a good start.

"One of the keys for us was moving up in the draft," he said. "That's been the hot topic for me in Winnipeg during my tenure."

Indeed Taman has a history of trading away Bombers' draft picks. In fact, the team has no first-round pick this year because Taman traded it to get Wynn from the Lions prior to last season.

"We were able to get two Canadians for him and it gives him a new start to his career," Taman said of Wynn, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound pivot, who never played a down for the Bombers and was hurt much of last year.

"He had no problem coming back to Winnipeg but we didn't want to come back this year with the same four quarterbacks," the GM said. "It wouldn't have been a healthy fit."

The trade is good news for third-stringer Tee Martin, who now seems to have a job waiting for him in Winnipeg, as do incumbent starter Kevin Glenn and backup Russ Michna.

"Hopefully we'll add another guy or two into the mix," Taman said.

Taman also said yesterday that the Bombers will not pick up the option on the contract of veteran linebacker Lamar McGriggs, making him a free agent.